Will Veterans day weekend crowds be worse than summer????

[lifeguardette]

?

 

[Malcon10t]

The last time Veteran's Day was a Friday, Disneyland also started the Christmas Holidays that same day. They had turnstile closures all weekend. This time, Disneyland has opted to wait til Monday to start the Christmas parades and fireworks. It will be busy, but hopefully not New Years busy.

 

[wvnative]

So glad to hear that. Thanks Mal!

 

[Disneylovers2000]

The last time Veteran's Day was a Friday, Disneyland also started the Christmas Holidays that same day. They had turnstile closures all weekend. This time, Disneyland has opted to wait til Monday to start the Christmas parades and fireworks. It will be busy, but hopefully not New Years busy.

We were there last year on Veteran's Day and yes it was INSANE!!
So glad to hear that they have changed things up a little. Those kinds of crowds really did steal a little of the magic for our family's first trip.

 

[camouseketeer]

We were there last year on Veteran's Day and yes it was INSANE!!
So glad to hear that they have changed things up a little. Those kinds of crowds really did steal a little of the magic for our family's first trip.

Yep! Last year's Veteran's Day weekend was far worse than any summer day I had ever seen! It was what I imagined the Christmas holidays to be like.

If the Christmas parade and other special holiday effects are not starting until the following Monday, I am guessing that the weekend will not be as bad as last year, and might be more like a summer day.

 

[Sherry E]

Yep! Last year's Veteran's Day weekend was far worse than any summer day I had ever seen! It was what I imagined the Christmas holidays to be like.

If the Christmas parade and other special holiday effects are not starting until the following Monday, I am guessing that the weekend will not be as bad as last year, and might be more like a summer day.

I think that the weekend will be very crowded. Just my personal opinion. The holiday season is not getting any less popular as the years pass. While the holiday season is "officially" beginning on 11/14 - and a Monday start date is highly unusual based on DLR's patterns over the years - I have a strong, strong hunch that things like IASW Holiday will soft open before 11/14. I would almost bet money that IASW Holiday will soft open on 11/12 or 11/13. Disney knows they will have lots of folks in the parks for the Veterans Day holiday and for the weekend (weekends are always busier). It would be a prime opportunity to soft open IASW Holiday and surprise the guests, and maybe, possibly, even run the parade (when is the parade taping for ABC this year? Is it that weekend or earlier in November?). The Winter Castle could possibly even get its icicle lighting a day or two in advance.

If the season were beginning on a Friday, I might not think there would be any soft openings. But since the season is mysteriously beginning on Monday this year, I think things will start to open or run over the weekend. I could be totally, absolutely off-base in my hunch, but I think it could happen. (I pay a lot of attention to when things start, open or go up for the holidays!)

Also, keep in mind that even though the bulk of the holiday entertainment is not scheduled to begin (officially) until 11/14, 95% all of the decorations in Disneyland and California Adventure (if DCA gets any decorations this year, that is!) will be up before 11/14. The only decorations you won't really see over Veterans Day weekend this year will be the ones at the 3 DLR hotels, and in Downtown Disney (all of that tends to go up over Thanksgiving weekend). But the 2 parks should be (almost) totally holiday-ized, as far as decor, before 11/14, and that will definitely attract people to DLR.

It's not going to be a New Year's Eve-level of busy, and maybe not even Summer-level busy, but there will probably be many more people there over Veterans Day weekend than one would expect!

 

[camouseketeer]

I think that the weekend will be very crowded. Just my personal opinion. The holiday season is not getting any less popular as the years pass. While the holiday season is "officially" beginning on 11/14 - and a Monday start date is highly unusual based on DLR's patterns over the years - I have a strong, strong hunch that things like IASW Holiday will soft open before 11/14. I would almost bet money that IASW Holiday will soft open on 11/12 or 11/13. Disney knows they will have lots of folks in the parks for the Veterans Day holiday and for the weekend (weekends are always busier). It would be a prime opportunity to soft open IASW Holiday and surprise the guests, and maybe, possibly, even run the parade (when is the parade taping for ABC this year? Is it that weekend or earlier in November?). The Winter Castle could possibly even get its icicle lighting a day or two in advance.

If the season were beginning on a Friday, I might not think there would be any soft openings. But since the season is mysteriously beginning on Monday this year, I think things will start to open or run over the weekend. I could be totally, absolutely off-base in my hunch, but I think it could happen. (I pay a lot of attention to when things start, open or go up for the holidays!)

Also, keep in mind that even though the bulk of the holiday entertainment is not scheduled to begin (officially) until 11/14, 95% all of the decorations in Disneyland and California Adventure (if DCA gets any decorations this year, that is!) will be up before 11/14. The only decorations you won't really see over Veterans Day weekend this year will be the ones at the 3 DLR hotels, and in Downtown Disney (all of that tends to go up over Thanksgiving weekend). But the 2 parks should be (almost) totally holiday-ized, as far as decor, before 11/14, and that will definitely attract people to DLR.

It's not going to be a New Year's Eve-level of busy, and maybe not even Summer-level busy, but there will probably be many more people there over Veterans Day weekend than one would expect!

Sherry, you are definitely the one most on top of the calendar of events for Christmas time at DLR, and your opinion is probably right on.

I will say that last year, IASW DID have soft openings on Thursday, the day before the opening of the Christmas season. I will also add that the two days leading up to the opening (Wed and Thurs), when the parks were fully decorated, they were only moderately busy. Yes, these days were weekdays, but the Thursday was Veteran's Day, a holiday for many, and Friday was also a non-school day for many. Thursday wasn't bad, but Friday was insane. Saturday was worse.

I agree that this year the weekend will be busy. I think it will be on par with summers, but since the special events (holiday parades and fireworks) probably draw a lot of people, it won't be as crazy as last year.

 

[Sherry E]

Sherry, you are definitely the one most on top of the calendar of events for Christmas time at DLR, and your opinion is probably right on.

I will say that last year, IASW DID have soft openings on Thursday, the day before the opening of the Christmas season. I will also add that the two days leading up to the opening (Wed and Thurs), when the parks were fully decorated, they were only moderately busy. Yes, these days were weekdays, but the Thursday was Veteran's Day, a holiday for many, and Friday was also a non-school day for many. Thursday wasn't bad, but Friday was insane. Saturday was worse.

I agree that this year the weekend will be busy. I think it will be on par with summers, but since the special events (holiday parades and fireworks) probably draw a lot of people, it won't be as crazy as last year.

I remember Saturday of Veterans Day weekend last year and you are not kidding - it was super crowded! Just standing there at the hub, and kind of turning around to look at the hustle and bustle of Main Street, I was saying, "This looks like it may as well be mid-December!" It really didn't look any less crowded than the crowds in the parks during my December trips! (And yet it was warm enough to be a Summer day!) The line for IASW Holiday was even longer in the daytime on 11/13 than I was used to seeing on my December trips. That's when I started to think, "Hmmm...are there any 'less crowded' weeks during the official holiday season anymore?" (Hence, my trip this year in the post-Thanksgiving week which is said to have lowER crowds!)

When is the Christmas Fantasy Parade filming this year? Someone had suggested a while back, in the Superthread, that it's possible the season is oddly beginning on a Monday in 2011 because the parade may be filming over the weekend leading up to it, or Veterans Day weekend. Is that when it's being filmed, or is it earlier in November this year?

 

[PinkBudgie]

I was there last Vets day because that's my sister's birthday. I just don't remember thinking it was any worse than a summer day. We had a few good days down there and had a great time. I guess I can live with the crowds as long as I can make good use of FPs.

The worst day I've ever seen it was New Year's Day several years ago before they blocked out the APs. It was so crowded you could barely see the ground between people and even the blue sky cellar had a line to get in. Our FP for HMH we picked up in the morning wasn't good until 7pm. Vets weekend was nowhere near as bad as that day!

PS- I do remember the line for IASW being very long but we got in before it got really bad.

 

[colin25]

I was there on Veteran's Day in 2007, and the attendance level was quite low. It almost felt like I had the park to myself like during a weekday. DL was open an extra 4 hours to accommodate the crowds, but they never showed up. I guess it's a toss-up each year to see what the crowds will be like.

 

[duckwife]

We will be there over that weekend and are prepared for big crowds so hopefully we will be pleasantly surprised. Our original plan had us coming home on the 14th but when I found out that the Christmas season started on the 14th we extended our stay by a day to at least get one day of the full Christmas experience . I really hope they don't tape the Christmas parade that weekend though, that may just be too much!!
We have never been at Christmas before so I am really looking forward to seeing the decorations

 

[lifeguardette]

Thanks for letting me know. My family is going nov 11 until the 16th with Us leaving early on the 16th. I was worried that we would not get in the park on veterans day as our plane doesn't land until around 3pm,but now at least I feel that we will get in to the parks. I am planning on doing WOC dinner package, do you all think the Saturday night or the Sunday night would be the best?
Thanks!

 

[nicolispicoli]

We will be there over that weekend and are prepared for big crowds so hopefully we will be pleasantly surprised. Our original plan had us coming home on the 14th but when I found out that the Christmas season started on the 14th we extended our stay by a day to at least get one day of the full Christmas experience . I really hope they don't tape the Christmas parade that weekend though, that may just be too much!!
We have never been at Christmas before so I am really looking forward to seeing the decorations

We did the same thing as you by extending one day and we're praying it's not too scary with crowds. We've never been during the holidays and our trip is nov 11- nov 15. I was hoping we could have had a full day on the 10th too, but it's not going to happen. it would have been nice to have at least one day we knew wasn't going to be too bad. We're hoping to book the holiday tour on that Monday so we can at least avoid the HMH and IASW lines. I called the other day and a CM said that they don't have the exact dates but that that the holiday haunts tour was available the same time frame as halloweentime, so here's hoping!!